The Crimson Shadow
by SauronsHeir
Summary: In a world dominated by beasts of unimaginable power, one man seeks to have his revenge against an almighty dragon. Gathering a party of hunters, Jack sets out to do battle with The Crimson Shadow, an ancient dragon from the time of the Overseers. But he has more than mere beasts to worry about on his quest for revenge...
1. The Past is Present (prologue)

The past… it is a critical part in any person's life. It shapes us… molds us… defines who we are in our future. Some say that the past is the most integral portion of our lives, and should never be forgotten. Others say that the past is a prison, shackling us to things that cannot be undone, and must be cast aside to move on with our lives. Me? Well, you can say that I am firmly in the former category. Some moments in our past cannot be so easily forgotten. It was so many years ago… the fateful day that would change my life forever. The day my life was irrevocably changed forever.

It was over 15 years ago, when I was still fairly young. Me and my beloved, Moira, alongside my trusted felyne companion Erin, were still fledgling hunters, barely considered able to hold onto our swords. We had been tasked with traveling to the most dreaded of all places, the volcano, in order to prove our skills as a hunter. We were tasked to hunt an Iodrome that had made root in the region and was terrorizing the villages that were close by to the volcano. It was a dreadful quest to be sure; the volcano was a cruel and unforgiving place, where one mishap could spell a hunter's doom. Despite my precaution, Moira convinced me that doing this hunt would be ultimately great for both of us.

I regret ever going by her word.

The journey to the volcano was not a pleasant one; we should have taken this as an omen of things to come. On the way there, we were ambushed by many beasts, forcing the guild knights who were escorting us to fend them off. We were marred by weather, illness, and even a few deaths along the way. After several days, we eventually reached our destination: the volcano.

The foreboding mountain loomed before us as we delved into the ashen wasteland, blades in hand. We quickly located our quarry, and pursued it deeper into the volcanic wasteland. We battled it fiercely, but the beast was nimble and cowardly. It evaded us many times, and kept fleeing deeper into the volcano. The two of us, in our naiveté, pursued it without a second thought. Eventually, the four of us reached the point of no return: the summit of the great mountain itself.

Fire and brimstone rained down around us, as smoke billowed out from the heart of the volcano in great clouds. We were apprehensive now, for one poor step could lead to us tumbling to our deaths. But that was not our greatest worry… no, not at all. Legends told of a time when dragons of unfathomable power once roamed Minegarde… but many of these great beasts were believed to be deceased, relics from a bygone age when man was stronger. But one such beast remained… at the heart of the mountain.

From within the great pool of lava below us emerged a great red and black shape. The beast unfurled its pinions, sending magma flying in every direction, before it swatted the Iodrome aside like a fly, sending it plummeting into the magma to its death. The foul wyrm then eyed us, blood red eyes filled with hate. Fearful for our lives, the three of us rushed the beast recklessly, weapons in tow. I was the first to fall; the beast struck me down with a blow from its razor-sharp claws, tearing my helmet off my head and shredding the right side of my face, crippling my eye and ear irrevocably. As I lay on the smoldering ground, bleeding and broken, my felyne companion was the next to fall. In an attempt to protect me from harm, he blocked another of the beast's claw swings, but was crippled by the power of the blow, its razor sharp claws puncturing his hide and organs.

As I struggled to get to my feet, my eyes saw the massive beast lurch towards me, jaws agape and ready to bite me in two, when I saw Moira emerge through the billowing smoke clouds and thrust her blade into its eye. The great red and black dragon roared in pain, a sound so horrible I can't even describe it, before it tossed her aside and blasted her with its infernal breath, roasting her alive. Engulfed with rage, I rose to my feet and rushed the titan, only to be swatted aside by its tail, causing me to pass out from the pain…

After what seemed like hours, I found myself in a guild cart wagon. I could only assume Moira and Erin were in the cart away from me. I asked one of the knights, who was tending to my mangled face, where Erin was and if he was alright. The knight confirmed to me that he was found and was alive but in critical condition. I then asked if my beloved was found, and if she was okay. To this, the knight could only shake his head solemnly. I understood. My beloved was dead…

Fifteen years ago… fifteen years ago was when I lost my beloved to that monster. I've dedicated my whole life to hunting, the art of slaying wild beasts. I have only one wish: to have my revenge. I wish to slay the Crimson Shadow.


	2. Reminiscence

_When legends are born, myths fade away…_

It was a relatively normal morning in the town of Minegarde. A beam of light filtered into the small, humble abode of Jack, an expert hunter of great regard. The beam of light seemed to focus right into Jack's face, awakening him prematurely from his slumber. Opening one of his chestnut brown eyes, before letting out a sigh, the hunter rolled out of his bed, flinging his sheets off of him as he got to his feet. Jack glanced about his house, seemingly disoriented for a moment, before he simply chuckled. That damn window was going to give him a heart attack one day. Thankfully, today is not that day. Jack ran his hand along his face, feeling the nasty scar that covered half his face, before he stood up and walked over to his storage box and looked into the mirror there.

Some things would never change, it seems. Every day, he wakes up and does the same thing- he gets up, runs his hand along his face, and then looks in the mirror. Jack shakes his head at himself. _Yes, Jack, your face is still scarred. I'm surprised it still shocks you at this point,_ Jack joked to himself. He was a man of decent build and dark skin, with short curly hair. The right side of his face was heavily damaged, with his right eye completely white and fogged over, along with his right ear being missing completely. Despite this, one could see that he had quite a nice face… well, besides the massive scar.

Jack then glanced down at his storage box, and sitting on it was a small glass box with a ring in it. Jack resisted the urge to open the case, instead changing out of his ratty sleeping clothes and quickly producing his armor from within the box. It was a beautiful set of silver rathalos, crafted by a master blacksmith in the he slew it by. The hunter smiled briefly, as if seeing the armor eased his pain, before he quickly put it on, placing each piece onto his body carefully and cautiously so as to avoid damaging it. Closing the box, Jack then looked above his mirror, spotting his massive, trusty great sword mounted there. It was a fine blade, made of pink rathian and azure rathalos pieces, and made by only the highest quality blacksmiths. Jack reached up and grasped his weapon, before slinging it across his back with ease despite its massive size.

Eventually, however, Jack could not resist the temptation to glance down and take hold of the small glass case. The hunter ran his fingers along it, before he slowly opened it and pulled out the ring. The hunter's eyes slowly became misty as thoughts and feelings rushed back to him from that fateful day…

But his thoughts were interrupted by a voice that said, "Still thinkin' 'bout her, nya?"

Jack quickly shut the box and, without turning around, replied, "What's it to you, Erin? You never liked her anyways."

From the shadows of the house emerged the hobbling shape of Jack's felyne companion, Erin. The felyne was of the usual white and brown breed, though was greatly hunched over. The felyne walked around using his old weapon as a walking stick, for he was too crippled to walk around normally as he once had.

"This ain't 'bout whether I liked her or not, master," Erin replied, his wooden staff clacking against the ground as he approached the much larger hunter, "this is 'bout you. Ya've been thinkin' 'bout her too much, nya. She's dead, Jack. Wishin' that ya could've done better ain't gonna bring her back from th' dead. 'S only gonna make ya more miserable."

"I cannot so easily forget about the one I loved," Jack replied, his voice clearly pained. "She was my world, Erin. She was everything to me. Even now, I can feel her influence on my soul… I still feel lost without her."

"I'm not sayin' t' forget 'bout her, nya," Erin retorted, "I'm sayin' that ya need to let go of yer past mistakes. It's not yer fault. Things happen out on th' hunt all th' time. But ya gonna let th' past destroy ya if ya don't move on."

"And what do you know of loss, Erin?" Jack replied venomously, turning his head so he could glance back towards the felyne. Erin was taken aback, and stepped backwards a couple steps from surprise. "You were trained from birth to be a warrior… you don't understand the pain of losing someone close. You never knew family, you never felt the repercussions of someone's death. You've never known friendship besides me, nor have you known the loss of a friend!"

Erin paused for a moment, clearly heavy hearted by Jack's comments. "Th' day she died, Jack, somethin' changed 'bout you. You never were th' same after that fateful day, nya. Th' day she died, th' old you died with her. Ya gotta fix yer problem, Jack. I dunno how yer gonna do it, but ya gotta do somethin'. Yer getting' sickly… ya barely eat, ya barely sleep, yer not the same man anymore."

Hanging his head low, Erin shambled towards the kitchen, away from Jack's room. Before he left, he said, "Breakfast'll be ready in 'bout 10 minutes, nya. Be ready by then." before exiting the room.

Jack clutched the glass box that contained the ring tightly in his hand, as he glanced down towards it, eyes still fairly heavy. Perhaps Erin was right. Perhaps he did need to move on from Moira's death. But then, he felt a flame enter his heart. No… he could not do that, not yet. Not while the monster still lived. He could not merely accept what had happened… he needed to have justice be dealt. That damned dragon that haunted his nightmares and took away the only thing he loved in life… it would taste the blade of revenge.

Jack closed his eyes, letting a lone tear roll down his cheek, before he set the glass case down on his storage box. Quickly placing his helmet on his head, Jack had a mission. He knew what he must do: he must put his heart at ease. He must slay The Crimson Shadow.


End file.
